Bad Beat on Cancer: Rockin’ It in Drag!

On Day 1b of the main event of the World Series of Poker, the halls outside the playing rooms were literally packed with hundreds of players excited about their chance to win the big money and the coveted bracelet. But the money and bracelet were forgotten when they spotted a group of guys in drag. We looked that good.

Phil Gordon, Rafe Furst, Joe Sebok, Perry Friedman, Ace Bailey and I were decked out in our stylish ladies track suits to raise awareness, and pledges, for Bad Beat on Cancer. Joining us was Michael Karnjanaprakom, who started the World Series of Good, pledging 100 percent of his winnings to several charities, including the Prevent Cancer Foundation.

There were lots of pictures, autographs, questions, a few interviews, and of course the guy who said: “I thought you were a Swedish gay poker league.” But most importantly, players were taking the pledge to donate one percent of their winnings to the Foundation, including celebrities Ray Romano and David Alan Grier. Nice.

ESPN came by to interview us, and we got to go up on the stage to talk about the Bad Beat initiative before the official “Shuffle Up and Deal.” We were rock stars!

So, how did we do? Well, Rafe was out after the first break, followed a little later by Ace, and then Joe. Perry and I have moved onto day 2 but that ended our run. Phil followed us out on Sunday. As of this writing, Michael is still in and we’ll keep you posted as the series progresses.

I can’t end this post without congratulating Phil Gordon on winning the Ante Up for Africa tournament on July 3rd. Being the great guy that he is, Phil donated all the prize money back to AUFA. I have to say, it takes a real man to dress in drag on his 40th birthday.